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NASA Seeks Help to Check Satellites

NASA is asking all cloud gazers to snap photos of the sky and share them with the space agency via an app. The citizen science project is needed to validate data from six Earth-observing instruments on different satellites. The instruments are part of a project called Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System, which aims to better understand what roles clouds play in global climate change, among other things, The Verge reported. Clouds, however, are sometimes hard to identify from up high. For example, thin, wispy cirrus clouds, the most common type of high cloud, are difficult to spot against a background of snow, according to NASA. That is why satellite observations need to be compared with observations from the ground. Hence, the cloud observation challenge. If you want to participate, the easiest way is to download the GLOBE Observer app, which gives step-by-step instructions to submit your cloud photos. For example, the app asks you everything from what color the sky is (from deep blue to pale blue) to what the visibility is (from unusually clear to very hazy) to, obviously, what types of clouds you see.